Jurgen Klopp made cheeky comment to Mo Salah just before he left Liverpool for AFCON

Jurgen Klopp made a cheeky remark to Mohamed Salah before the Egyptian headed off to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Liverpool have enjoyed an unexpectedly good start to the season and are currently at the Premier League summit, some three points ahead of nearest challengers Aston Villa.

Naturally, much of Liverpool’s form has hinged on Salah’s performances. The winger has netted 14 goals and registered 8 assists in his 20 Premier League encounters.

However, the Reds are set to be without Salah and midfielder Wataru Endo for several key matches this month, starting with an FA Cup tie against Arsenal on Sunday.

Salah’s Eqypt are preparing for their AFCON group stage matches against Mozambique, Ghana and Cape Verde, with the talismanic forward on international duty for at least the next two-and-a-half weeks.

Should Egypt make it to the final, however, as they did two years ago, Salah could be out of Liverpool action until at least February 17.

With Endo also unavailable until the same date if Japan makes it to the Asian Cup final next month, Klopp has wished his players the worst of luck ahead of their respective tournaments.

The German admitted: "I said if I wish them good luck it would be a lie.

“Hopefully they are out in the group stages but it's not likely possible.

“Good luck and hopefully they can come back healthy. I am pretty positive we will find a way [to replace them] but we have to show that."

Klopp will have to reshuffle his side when Arsenal travel to Anfield this weekend to find an adequate replacement for Salah on the right flank.

He said: "I think we played against West Ham with Harvey [Elliott] there and we have different defensive options. Other players can play on the wing but maybe not like Mo, it's not possible.

"We use the boys and their skills and that is the idea behind it. Do we want to play without Mo? No. But we will find a way. Of course, we play Arsenal and we can lose with Mo Salah but at the moment we have a chance to win the game, so we think about that."

Topics: Football, Jurgen Klopp, Mohamed Salah, Premier League, Africa Cup Of Nations, Egypt, Wataru Endo

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.